Into the Catalans

Monday 3^rd June : 

This was a day of travel…on the fast toll motorway east, with a stop at les Pyrenees service centre where we were delighted to see, and photograph a fantastic sculpture of le Tour de France cyclists. 

We left the motorway at St Martory, paying the 15 Euro toll charge, happy to see sunny skies and estimating that we had saved much of the toll in fuel by having a straight run without having to negotiate little villages with their narrow streets and speed bumps!  There was a brief stop at St Girons, the start of Stage 9 of this year’s Tour

and then on through Foix to les Cabannes, our overnight stop, arriving at 4.35pm in brilliant sunshine.  There was snow on some of the mountain peaks surrounding us, it was gorgeous and we dragged out the chairs and table to sit outside in the sunshine with a glass of sangria.  Fabulous!

Tues.4^th June :  Blue skies and sunshine…oh happy day!  Until…yours truly slipped on a tiny bit of gravel that was lurking on Boris’ step, fell and hit my head, derriere and other parts.  A large egg quickly appeared and grew a headache and bruises have popped up elsewhere, but it was my pride that hurt the most.  Leaving les Cabannes, we drove through glorious scenery, continuing on from yesterday, and stopped at Ax-les-Thermes where we strolled through the markets before heading for Andorra.  (We’re still heading for the Mediterranean coast, just making a few detours along the way).  The scenery all the way up the winding roads to and through Andorra is absolutely stunning and we made several stops to take the obligatory photos.

 It started to rain before we reached the Spanish border but not heavily and not for very long.  There were several serious cyclists on the road, not your everyday tourist with bags hanging off the bike, struggling along against all odds, and we wondered if they might be in training for a big race?  Just before we left Spain after our brief but lovely drive, the rain came down, heavily.  8kms back into France, our overnight stop was at Saillagouse, on the road to Perpignan, on the coast.

Wed.5^th June : Another sunny morning…we caught the Yellow Train (Train Jaune) to Villefranche Vernet-les-Bains and rode through spectacular mountains and valleys, taking a zillion photos…

we were like a couple of big kids, rushing from side to side on the train, taking in the all the scenery and enjoying the train ride.  It’s okay though, there were other ‘big kids’ there too, doing exactly the same thing.  On arrival at Villefranche station, we had a 10 minute walk to the 17^th century walled town…more cobbled streets, more photos and another stunning day.

We spoiled ourselves with lunch on Gallettes and a beer or two in the cutest café.

 

 

Don’t know how we can take any more of this!!  The return journey seemed to go quickly and we left the train just as the rain came down again.  It seems that this is normal for this region at this time of the year…sunshine until mid afternoon, rain for a few hours, then it clears up.  We can live with that.  We’re now at Mont Louis, just up the road from last night’s stopover and are camped outside the walls of a 17^th century fortified city.  The rain seems to have cleared, so we look forward to tomorrow.